NEW Roguelike: Alien Frontier – Survive, Loot & Conquer the Open-World
0Alien Frontier is a third-person shooter roguelike that immerses players in an open-world, alien-infested wilderness. As a prospector for the East Earth Company, your primary goal is to mine resources while fending off hostile creatures. With a combination of exploration, resource gathering, and combat, the game presents an exciting premise. However, while it boasts potential, it struggles with pacing, level design, and clear progression mechanics.
Gameplay & Mechanics
The game begins with a tutorial, guiding players through movement, combat, and resource collection. However, even at this early stage, some inconsistencies emerge. The tutorial feels unpolished, with moments where objectives are unclear or where the game doesn’t properly indicate what players should do next.
Once past the tutorial, the core gameplay loop involves mining resources, battling alien creatures, and using various movement tools such as a grappling hook, wingsuit, and hoverboard. The combat is engaging, offering a mix of shooting and tactical maneuvering, but the lack of clear progression dampens the experience. Players can equip different weapons, such as a short-range blunderbuss or a rocket payload launcher, but the impact of these choices isn’t always well-explained.
The game’s roguelike elements are present but feel underdeveloped. Death results in a complete restart, with no apparent way to retain progress or currency. The lack of clear information on how to earn and spend in-game resources makes unlocking new content frustrating. Additionally, reward chests require currency, but the game never fully explains where to reliably obtain it, making early encounters feel aimless.
Exploration & Level Design
The world of Alien Frontier is vast, but often empty. While procedural generation can enhance replayability, the current implementation results in large, barren stretches of land with little to do between objectives. The movement system, including the hoverboard and wingsuit, provides a fun way to traverse the environment, but the lack of meaningful points of interest makes exploration feel tedious rather than rewarding.
The game could benefit from denser environmental storytelling or interactive elements. Adding collectibles, side objectives, or dynamic encounters would help fill the gaps and keep players engaged between combat and mining tasks.
Combat & Enemy Encounters
Combat in Alien Frontier is chaotic and fast-paced, featuring a variety of alien creatures that swarm the player. The bullet-hell-inspired mechanics keep engagements intense, requiring quick reflexes and strategic positioning. However, visibility issues arise when fighting in dense areas, making it difficult to track enemy movements.
One of the more frustrating aspects is resource scarcity. Killing enemies doesn’t always yield useful rewards, making it difficult to sustain longer runs. The game hints at a meta-progression system, leaving the current experience feeling incomplete.
Graphics & Performance
Visually, the game has a clean, sci-fi aesthetic with alien environments that feel distinct. The red-leaved Ember Forests stand out as a unique biome, but other areas lack diversity. The game runs smoothly for the most part, with only occasional frame drops. While no major bugs were encountered, minor issues like being stuck in glide mode or unclear UI elements hinder the experience.
Potential & Areas for Improvement
Alien Frontier has a strong foundation, but it needs significant refinement to fully realize its potential. Here are some key areas for improvement:
Better Tutorial & UI Clarity: Improve the tutorial to clearly explain mechanics like currency, chest rewards, and progression systems.
Denser Level Design: Reduce empty spaces by adding interactive elements, side quests, and dynamic events.
Resource Balancing: Ensure enemies drop useful resources and clarify how to obtain currency for upgrades.
Combat Refinements: Improve enemy AI, visibility, and hit feedback to make engagements feel more polished.
Meta-Progression System: Introduce a meaningful way to retain progress and rewards between runs.
Final Verdict!
Alien Frontier is a game with strong potential but suffers from emptiness and a lack of clear progression. The movement mechanics and combat are enjoyable, but the sparse world and unclear resource system create frustration. With some polish and content expansion, it could become a standout roguelike experience. For now, it’s an intriguing concept that needs more refinement to truly shine.
Read the latest full patch notes here:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2330810/view/535463129771935691
Alien Frontier - Early Access Launched on January 31, 2025!
Platform: PC (Steam) Price: $17.99 USD
Link:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2330810/Alien_Frontier/
Alien Frontier is an open world, third-person shooter roguelite. Explore, search, and mine resources in the deadly alien wilderness... assuming you can survive.